Big-Time Update

We have been busy vacationers these past two weeks...over 700 pictures so far this month, and I haven't been home long enough to post or blog about them.  So I whittled down the pics the the best 200 or so (!!!) and put them on Snapfish, so as to speed up the blogging process.  Here's the link: July Snapfish pics

The pictures are pretty well captioned, but here's a written version of what we've been up to the past two weeks:

Fourth of July weekend - we "camped" in our friends' back yard on Lake Orion.  We spent all day Saturday on their boat, zipping around the lake, tubing, and swimming.  We didn't set up our tents right away, since bad storms were expected, and boy were we glad we didn't!  The storms blew through at dinner time, and they were bad, with strong winds and loads of hail.  The power was out the rest of the night.  We decided to camp out in our sleeping bags in the basement, in case more storms showed up.  We did venture out to see the fireworks over the lake, which was eerie since the power was out everywhere, and the only light was from the other boats.  The shoreline was soooo dark!

On Sunday, we again spent the day on their boat.  We stayed home on the actual 4th, and went on a long bike ride and went swimming at the pool.

On the 5th, I took the girls to a local farm/park, where we watched the cows being milked.  The farmer gave the girls a bottle of fresh milk to feed to the 2-day-old calf, too!  We had a fun morning on the farm.  In the afternoon, we went to an orchard near the farm, and we picked tart cherries, red and black raspberries, strawberries, and pea pods.

On the 6th, we went to our city's "Wet and Wild Wednesdays" at the museum, and met some fellow kindergarten-graduate-families there.  The museum spreads out huge sheets of plastic down the big hill, and hose kids with water as they slide down the hill.  Fun!  I had to go down with Jessica the first few times, but then she got brave enough to go by herself and/or with her sisters.  There was also a fire truck in a nearby parking lots, spraying water at full blast from the top of the ladder.  AND there is always the fun of wading in Stoney Creek.  (my favorite part!)

On the 7th, I drove the girls up to Alpena to visit Mary & Justin and meet baby Greyson for the first time!  The girls fell in love with him immediately...he has the biggest smile ever!  We played with him most of the day, but we also went to the shipwreck museum, the Lake Huron beach, and went putt-putting.  On the 8th, we went downtown and wandered around the park, marina, and city.  Then we visited the Kraffts up on Long Lake, and they took us for a boat ride, fed us dinner, and had a bonfire for us!  On the 9th, we drove home, and stopped by Sturgeon Point Lighthouse and the Tawas City Beach on the way.

The 11th was a day of doctor appts, dentist appts, and tutoring.  No fun!  But on the 12th, I took the girls to the Oakland County Fair and we had a BLAST!  We saw all of the animals, and rode all of the rides.  On the 13th, we spent the day on Lake Orion again with our friends.

Last Thursday, I took the girls to visit Notre Dame.  On the way, we stopped by Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek, and we picked blueberries.  Friday, we spent the whole day on ND's campus.  Saturday, we drove home, but via Benton Harbor to play in Lake Michigan!  We spent 3hrs on the beach, and had such a great time.  We stopped and picked blueberries again on our way home.

Today is a day of rest.  (and catch-up)  It is sunny and in the low 90's for the umpteenth day in a row, and we are all exhausted from being outside in the hot sun every day the past few weeks.  So I decided we needed a day of staying indoors, enjoying the a/c while watching the women's soccer game.  Hope you enjoy all of the pics!